TO DO EXHIBITION AT GALLERY M

Hi Everyone,

Well, we have launched ourselves into the new year . . . whether we are ready for it or not! Judging from the 62 entries in the latest exhibition at Gallery M, it seems many people were well and truly ready to kickstart their art this year. There was such an incredible response from the Red House Members Group to the theme of this exhibition which was to choose three verbs from Richard Serra’s verb list and create a work of art around this. In keeping with my passion to move poetry out of poetry books and into public spaces, I wrote a poem based on the verbs ‘to tear.’ ‘to scatter,’ and ‘to discard.’

TO DO EXHIBIT

What I found so marvellous about the entries this time was the variety of media and ideas. The artistic talent was so impressive. If you haven’t had a look yet, I highly recommend you drop in before it closes on 5 February. I have visited twice so far, trying to take in the ideas and expertise of all the artists. Stunning Digital art and photography were juxtaposed with the fine motor skills of Moira Doherty’s life cycle of painstaking layered art, beginning with the new life of the tree, moving through the home-building and family phase to the crumbling ruin and dead tree. And Margaret Slater’s twig of Silver Princess Flowering Gum took me by surprise when I get close enough to discover it wasn’t a photograph, but a superbly stitched and placed fabric picture of nature. Scott Oakes extraordinary night rendition of Mount Lofty still has me scratching my head. How did he do that? It’s stunning! And then there are Shirley Wu’s pale green, delicate, blown glass forms that must be the most exquisite receptacles for essential oils that have ever been imagined and executed. Another work that will stay with me (because of the questions it raises in this increasingly artificial work of AI and robot companions) is the photography of Michael Shrapnel. Again, I am left wondering how. However, mostly, I am confronted with this vexing question: Where is the world of AI taking us? Will human beings be superseded in the not-too-distant future? The contrast between the technology of the old desk novelty and the technology employed, and inferred, in the execution of Shrapnel’s artwork raises many questions in a variety of disciplines. 

I like nothing better than to be challenged by art, so this exhibition was right up my alley. I have just commented on a few highlights, but there are many more to mull over and admire. Don’t miss out! Check out the shop while you’re there. It was my birthday recently, so my sons secretly bought a fabulous ceramic object I was coveting on the night of the launch which was a wonderful surprise for me after our birthday dinner. Finally, I would love to have included some of the photos I took of the art I have mentioned, but copyright prevents me, so there is only one thing to do – grab your keys and go and have a look for yourself!

My Very Best Wishes,

Julie